David Lloyd Clubs restaurant aims to boost diners' mood

David Lloyd Clubs, the gym brand, has opened a pop-up restaurant in Shoreditch that aims to boost mental well-being through its menu, lighting, decor and music choices.

"The good plates", open for two days from 22 January, will offer dishes such as wood-roasted monkfish, chickpeas and walnut gremolata, because the vitamin E in fish is believed to help cognitive function, while chickpeas and walnuts promote good mental well-being.

The menu was devised by chef and mental-health ambassador Andrew Clarke and nutritional therapist Ian Marber.

Interior designer Katharine Pooley has used research to guide the decor, lighting and layout of the space so that all parts of the restaurant have positive well-being in mind. For example, seating is communal to encourage conversations between guests.

Front-of-house staff will be talking to visitors about how food, surroundings and socialising can help boost mental health.

A spokeswoman for David Lloyd Clubs said: "The good plates restaurant is not an attempt to be a cure or quick fix for mental-health difficulties, but instead simply be a warm and welcoming place where people can learn in an interactive way how certain foods, surroundings and conversations can complement positive mental well-being when they form part of everyday life.

"Inside, the aim is to give guests a positive experience and hopefully they will feel that they have benefited in some small way from their time at the restaurant. But we also hope guests leave having taken on board some of the thinking behind 'The good plates' and introduce this into their day-to-day lives."

All money from bookings will go to mental-health charity Mind. Dishes inspired by the restaurant will be available in David Lloyd clubrooms in January.